The effects of industrial revitalization on the development of cultural and creative industries : killing or helping?

Abstract

Hong Kong has been positioned and moulded as Asia's 'creative capital' in recent years. The government has also inputted extra resources and additional policies and programmes to support the growth of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI). On the other hand, the government has been aggressively supporting industrial revitalization by adopting different Revitalization of Industrial Buildings (RIB) Schemes in a bid to address the issue of under-utilisation of industrial spaces. However, there have been numerous complaints that the RIB is hindering the growth of CCI by driving up the rental levels in industrial buildings (IBs). Given the conflicting situation, the relationship between Industrial Revitalization on CCI development is thus worth investigating. The purpose of this study is to look at the impacts of industrial revitalization on CCI development and to make pragmatic suggestions for fostering CCI growth in Hong Kong. This paper has identified real-estate related critical success factors (CSFs) of a facilitative environment for CCI to thrive and key performance indicators of CCI development on a building cluster level. As for the CSFs impacting CCI development, a real-estate 3Es Model is built, which includes three primary aspects: 'Environment,' 'Exchange,' and 'Exposure’. Findings were then made by the employment of location quotient analysis and case studies. This paper has realized that revitalized IBs with space purposely for CCI has benefited the CCI development by providing a more facilitative environment by enhancing their workplace environment with more supporting facilities, cultivating exchange between CCI specialists by offering more spaces for interaction, and boosting CCI's business exposure by providing more spaces for event holding and displaying their creative products with improved promotion. Yet, on the other hand, industrial revitalization may have resulted in hindrance to CCI development due to the growing rental rates after revitalization.